Preview of process colors

[sranda webforumsuser@macromedia.com]

Is anyone tired of the poor preview of process colors. It drives me crazy to spec a PMS solid to process mix and have it be so off. I can export the same file to AI and the preview is exactly like the PMS solid to process book. I've tried all the color experimentations I can stand in FHMX preferences.

[Danny Whitehead]

I've managed to get a pretty close match between the display of process
colours in Freehand and Photoshop (Mac versions). Here's a screenshot of the
settings I used and how close the match is:

[url]http://www.bqps.fsnet.co.uk/otherstuff/cm.jpg[/url]

Set Illustrator up to mimic Photoshop's CM settings, and you should be
there. You'll probably want to substitute 'ProNitron 19/600' with your
custom monitor profile (made using Adobe Gamma, ColorSync or a hardware
monitor-profiling device, should you have one) and 'Euroscale Coated v2'
with either one of the SWOP profiles that ship with Photoshop (I assume
you're in the US from your spelling of 'color'), or a custom separations
profile, should you have one.

If there's anything you don't understand about those settings or how to
achieve them, post back.



Danny

[sranda webforumsuser@macromedia.com]

Why do you choose Relative Colormetric in PS and Perceptual in FH? I've had several photographers recommend Perceptual in PS but have been using Relative Colormetric for all workflow.

[sranda webforumsuser@macromedia.com]

Try the colors I'm using.

[url]http://www.jajostudio.com/stuff/ScreenSnapz001.jpg[/url]

[Daniel Whitehead]

"sranda" [email]webforumsuser@macromedia.com[/email] wrote:

> Why do you choose Relative Colormetric in PS and Perceptual in FH?

I've had several photographers recommend Perceptual in PS but have been
using Relative Colormetric for all workflow.

>
>
>

That is strange, yes. I hear Rel. Col. recommended more that Perceptual
for most purposes, and reading the description Photoshop gives you of
each redering intent, it suits most of my needs best, so I keep it as
default. I use 'Convert to Profile' in PS for conversions where I think
a different rendering intent is more appropriate. But onto Freehand: I
don't use Freehand to do any critical conversions other than those used
to preview print colours. Using Perceptual, for some illogical reason,
gives me a closer on-screen match to Photoshop than I get using the Rel.
Col.

Here's a screenshot of the match I get using those colours:

[url]http://www.bqps.fsnet.co.uk/otherstuff/purples.jpg[/url]

Not knowing exactly in which program and how you selected the colours in
your example, or how you made the screenshot, I can't tell you for sure
why the middle example is slightly off and the one on the right is
correct. The one on the left can probably be explained. You have
selected a spot colour. In Freehand, if you have 'colour manage spot
colours' switched ON, spot colours will be displayed using Pantone's
recommended CMYK mix (from the 'ProSim' library), simulated on-screen
through Freehands CM setup. If 'colour manage spot colours' switched
OFF, they will be displayed using the RGB values built into the colour
library. On the other hand, when you pick a spot colour in Photoshop, it
uses Pantone's 'device independent' Lab values and converts it to the
closest match possible in the current working space.

The example on the right is correct because you have selected a proper
process colour that only has CMYK values, and the only conversion taking
place is from your working CMYK profile ('separations printer profile'
in FH) to the monitor profile. If you set FH & PS's CM as identical as
possible, the two will display this colour as identical as possible.
Now, 'PANTONE 5275 PC' I don't know about. Which library did you pick
this from, and in which program?


Danny